LORANGER – The Loranger High School Baseball Team is shattering records and climbing to new heights this season. The Wolves are enjoying their highest ranking in school history and they have a very big week that will determine their fate as far as defending their district crown is concerned. 

“This week is very big for us and the players are excited about the opportunity to play in more big games,” said Wolves Coach Jason Helmstetter. The Wolves have moved up to #4 in the Class 3A Top Ten and they are set to take on Albany for the 10-3A District Title.

The Wolves dominated the Hornets earlier this season but both teams have identical 7-1 records in league play.  Loranger played at Albany on Tuesday Night and with a win over the Hornets they would have clinched another district title.

The Wolves were eager to get back on the diamond after missing out on two opportunities to play games.  After the Wolves picked up a big 7-1 win over Amite, Loranger did not play against Bogalusa as the Lumberjacks forfeited the game and the Wolves non-district outing against the STA Falcons was called off as well as what was dubbed as poor playing conditions. 

Helmstetter was not too pleased. “We obviously wanted to play and needed to play. But the players have put last week behind them and are clearly focused on the most important week of the season thus far.”

The Wolves got a gem of an outing from UL Monroe Signee Taylor Abdalla in their 7-1 win over the Amite Warriors.  The senior leader was in a zone against Amite as he stuck out 14 batters in a solid effort.

“Taylor was on fire. He got into a jam in the second but worked his way out of it and really did a good job of controlling things for us from the mound,” said Helmstetter. Abdalla also pitched in the Wolves game versus Albany earlier this week as well.

“The win over Amite was an emotional win for us and one that we knew we had to have. Now the players are ready for another big week with three games on the schedule.” Loranger will host senior night Thursday Night on the LHS Campus as they play their final regular season home game against rival Independence.

First pitch is set for 6pm with activities beginning at 5:30 as Loranger will honor their very successful senior class. And finally Loranger will hit the road over the weekend to Lafayette to take on 7th ranked Notre Dame.

The Wolves and Pios will play at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette against one of the best programs in Class 3A. “We are excited to play Notre Dame and to be able to play at a facility like ULL has is something special for our team as well,” Helmstetter said.